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They might not be every­body’s cup of tea, but lots of com­mer­cial fish­eries to­day have good heads of barbel. These are very ag­gres­sive feed­ers and it pays to feed plenty of bait, as they’ll hoover it up in no time! Big hand­fuls of casters, mag­gots or meat for ex­am­ple, score well. Barbel love to hug fea­tures such as snaggy mar­gins and changes in depth such as shelves, and can even be caught late on from un­der va­cant plat­forms.